Advantages

Disadvantages

Do we really need this product on the shelves when we have Revels?

A fairly recent addition to the Mars brand is these 'Mars Planets', which take the familiar formula of Revels but add a Mars twist. I recently picked up a 'share bag' from my local supermarket and thought I could snack on them throughout the day at work.

There are three types of planet contained within the packet, which seems a bit lacking compared to the six or so variations found inside a bag of Revels. I found the lack of variety to be rather annoying when I seemed to be biting into the same flavour again and again.

The Mars Planets flavours are:

1) Caramel2) Mars-style Nougat3) Maltesers

The fact that they include Maltesers in the selection (which are also found in Revels, as well as their own brand) shows the lack of thought given to the flavours of the Mars Planets. The Mars Nougat & Mars Caramel work because they are two aspects of the traditional Mars Bars flavours separated - where the Malteser comes in, I have no idea. Since they are including random flavours that aren't directly related to Mars Bars, they should have included more variety such as: Peanuts, Raisins, etc. The only problem is that they run the risk of becoming exactly the same as Revels, which they are already dangerously close to doing as it is.

Ironically, my favourite of the flavours is the Malteser style balls, which do taste slightly crunchier than a normal Malteser and are a lot smaller & denser. The other two flavours taste fairly similar, so it was hard to distinguish which was which, unless I bit into a planet and looked at the core.

Overall, I found these to be a little sickly in a 'share bag', although I didn't exactly share them, and I found the lack of variety to be a problem. In all honesty, I do wonder exactly what purpose these serve, since they are so similar to Revels, which are also owned by Mars. It seems like an odd product and hasn't really found its place in the sweets market. I wouldn't be too surprised if it underwent a drastic re-branding sometime soon, or was discontinued soon.

[This review is 'exclusive' to Dooyoo]

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

If you like Mars but can't manage a whole one, these are for you

I recently bought a selection of 'movie' foods to prepare us for the forthcoming winter months when we don't fancy going out and a night in front of the TV in the warm is really appealing. Knowing my fiancé is a fan of Mars Planets I threw them in the trolley, and must admit I really enjoyed them, although I'm not usually fussed on Mars bars.

The chocolates are small and circular in shape, ranging in size from small raisin to malteser size. They are made for sharing, although the pack is resealable so if you have anything resembling willpower, they will keep fresh if you put them back in the cupboard. The idea is that there are a variety of tastes to tantilise your tastebuds, as the centres are different. You either get a chewy caramel centre, a crispy honeycomb style centre, or a soft classic Mars centre, each one covered with the beautiful Mars chocolate. It's a bit like Revels but you can tell by the size and shape which one has which centre, so if you're not so keen on one you can avoid it.

Luckily, I like all of these, and my fiancé has introdued me to a new way of enjoying them which is to cram a few in your mouth at the same time. I wasn't convinced at first, but actually it does create quite a mixture of tastes and textures which is really enjoyable.

I think the main selling point for these is that they are good for sharing, and also they're not too sickly. I like Mars bars, but can only eat the funsize ones because a full size one would make me feel sick. With these, however, they are perfect for getting the taste without over-indulging. (if you can stop yourself polishing off the bag that is!)

They're available in the usual supermarkets, corner shops, discount stores and newsagents, and come in 150g bags for sharing or individual 37g bags. The sharing bags are around £1.80 full price, but are often found for £1 in discount stores (Home Bargains, Wilkinsons, B&M), and also sometimes in the supermarkets. Tesco currently have them on offer for £1. The individual bags vary but cost around the same as a standard chocolate bar, in the region of 60p.

Nutritional information per 100g:

Calories - 483Sugars - 58.9gFat - 22.5gSaturates - 13.5gSalt - 0.41g

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A nice aternative to the mars bar

I'm going to start this review with a pretty bold and controversial comment - Us Brits make the best chocolate in the world. Now I have tried American, South African and many other countries version of the brown delight, but whether you are a Cadbury fan or a Mars brand fan we win hands down in the world chocolate league.

For those who love the Mars brand of chocolate and in particular the famous Mars Bar, the new variation on this theme are Mars Planets. These are small round chocolate sweets with a mixture of three centres in the packet.

Soft Centre: This is a fluffy nougat type filling, much like the fluffy filling in a original mars bar. This gives a lovely mars bar type feel to these sweets.Crispy Centre: This is a crunchy mix between a Malteeser type centre and a biscuit type centre, which is nice and crunchy with a malty taste.Chewy Centre: This is a lovely smooth and silky chewy caramel, harder than in a regular mars bar but tastier in my opinion.

Individually these are nice but mix and match them in your mouth and you get a much better experience in my opinion.

I like these chocolates and see them as a nice alternative to the mars bar when you want something different. 4 Stars from me.

Now the info. I paid 56p for my 36g pack. There 179 calories per pack and 8.3g of fat. So fairly calorific for a small bag, but like all sweet treats, once in a while in moderation is fine.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Stick to the trusty old 'Mars Bar'

When I am in need of a chocolate fix I often turn to the good old mars bar. It is and always has been one of my favourite chocolate bars, so when I saw the new offering of Mars Planets I had to give them a try.

They were on offer in my local Asda store for £0.87 for a 150g family sized bag. They are also available in a smaller 37g bag for £0.40 but being me I had to go for the biggest one...

The bag as an easy tear top so was nice and easy to open and also comes with a sticky tab should you want to re-seal and save some for later.

Now on to the important bit the sweets themselves...

The bag is made up of chocolate coated sweets with 3 different centers, soft, crispy and chewy all of which are coated in mars chocolate.

The taste test...

The 'soft' which is the biggest of the three tastes exactly like the bottom section of a mars bar so being a mars bar lover I did like this one, although each sweet is quite small and you don't get the same satisfaction as taking a big bite out of a bar.The 'chewy' not surprisingly tastes like the caramel section of a mars bar, tastes ok but again I found the size to be a big issue here.The 'crispy was a very dry biscuit the texture which was really not good far to dry and quite tasteless. I'm really confused as to why the 'crispy' is even included in this pack, I just don't know where this one fits into the equasion at all, I really don't remember finding 'crispy' bits in any of the mars bars I've eaten - and I've eaten a fair few over the years.

All in all my experience of Mars planets was one of disappointment the soft and chewy were ok if somewhat small but the crispy is really not nice at all - give me a good old mars bar any day!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Try yourself

Mars Planets are available in regular size (usually around 50p) and giant size (between £1.00-2.00). Each contain the same ingredients: tens of little chocolate coated balls, each containing something different on the inside, designed just to mix it up. You never know which you are going to get, but it can only ever be one of three possibilities: soft nouggat (think Mars Bar/Milky Way), crunchy biscuit, or chewy caramel.

Everyone has their favourites, and so do I.

I cannot stand the chewy ones. But I love the others, so I buy packet upon packet anyway, even despite the knowledge that i'll hate 1/3 of it. It is the same mindset as with Revels, or on a bigger scale - Roses, Celebrations, or Quality Street. The idea is, you love some, so you put up with the rest that you hate. This is why Planets are still going, but it's also why they have an average 3 star rating on dooyoo.

The chocolate, being Mars, is delightful if a little greasy. It is not to everyone's taste, but it certainly is to mine.

The snack itself is not healthy (but thwn what would you expect?), and the chewy ones will certainly hurt your jaw (and maybe a few fillings), but they are what they are: a treat to be had from time to time.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Disappointing, buy a Mars Bar instead.

These seem to have the perfect promise, with things that go perfectly together. Nice, rich creamy chocolate, with crispy, chewy and soft fillings. However, they just don't seem to work.

The packaging is quite nice, with a simple design that is easy to spot on the shelf. The writing is big, making it easy to read. It's easy to open, and the product is always fresh afterwards.

The main idea, is to combine the different flavours as you please to create the taste of a Mars Bar. However, this fails, with just not having the same desirable taste and they don't melt in your mouth as much.

The layer of chocolate is very thin, almost too thin so the fillings become sickly after a while. Each different filling is ok, but each has something that could be improved. The crispy version doesn't have much taste, and is too hard. Next, the chewy ones are a little better, and are soft, melting in the mouth but just don't have the same great chewy, rich caramel flavour like Mars Bars do. Finally, the soft ones are ok, but again are lacking in flavour.

Also, they don't really deliver on the promise. Combining them doesn't remind you of a Mars Bar, with little taste and just a chewy mess in the mouth. All they do is remind you of how much you would like the real thing.

The quality is alright, but not very good compared to other brands such as Cadbury. You get little chocolate, and the fillings are poor with little taste.

The price isn't that bad, pretty similar to similar products. However, they do have quite a lot of sugar and calories.

Overall, not that bad but you will feel pretty disappointed after you have finished. They are lacking with each little variety needing something added. They just aren't as good as other products, so should really be avoided.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

dont get them

Mars planets are a chocolate product that I really dislike. They are fairly new as I think they only came out sometime last year and are basically an attempt at mars trying to expand their sales by coming up with a new concept from their old chocolate bar the mars bar which is already a good idea.

The idea is little balls, three in total one a soft chewy kind of ingredient like the stuff you find at the bottom section of the mars bar. The other one a chewy caramel and the last one a kind of crispy one which I'm not sure why that in there are mars bars don't have this kind of ingredient in them.

As a mars bar, all these things taste fantastic, but on their own there just not nice at all. In fact I only had one packet of these, and you don't even get much in the packet but I disliked them so much I was tempted to not even finish them off, however having spent about 45p on them I of course finished them.

They taste quite sickly too, the crispy one isn't nice, the caramel one would be nice except the caramel used tastes cheap and not nice and the soft centred one doesn't taste too bad but its still not great.

Honestly if you haven't tried these yet them don't bother, if you like mars bars then you still may not like these as I love mars bars, and if you don't like mars bars then I would hate to think what you would make of these.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Seen tastier dust

Mars Planets are something that for whatever reason I've missed out on so far, probably more to do with the concept than anything else to be totally honest with you, I'm not a big fan of Mars bars I think their a bit sickly (that's coming from someone who is pretty much eating chocolate as a living now a days). So when the hoopla about Mars Planets came out I wasn't bothered, however as I struggle to find chocolate bars I've not tasted I've decided to finally try them.

Coming in a packet, similar to that of Revels, Malteasers, M&M's and Minstrels, the packet is black like a Mars wrapper and it features cross sections of the three types of planet in the packet (soft, Cripsy and Chewy). Funny I can't remembers Mars being crispy, just caramel, chocolate and nougat. The packets also come in a bigger family size but the packet I have is 37g and cost around 40p so it's competitive but by no means a great price (unless the product it's self is mind blowing).

The packet contained 19 unbroken balls (I refuse to call them planets seeing them) and a couple of smashed ones, so it'll be around 20 balls per packet. They come in a few sizes, but the biggest are no bigger than Malteasers and the smallest are peanut covered chocolate sized (tiny).The tiny ones appear to be the chewy ones, which are OK but uninspiring it calls them chewy but they don't make you want to chew and I've ended up just swallowing them instead.The medium ones are crunchy and are just chocolate covered rice, ooh how exciting, a thin layer of chocolate around something that shatters as you bit them and almost vaporises. These are more like rice crispies than anything I remember from a Mars bar.Finally the other ones (soft) must be the big ones...correct-a-mundo these are the most Mars bar like of the packet but as often seems to be the problem throughout they don't really do much. You bite them, they fall to pieces, you swallow them. The taste is like half of a Mars bar.So lets try one of each at the same time...OK that's better but still nothing special, sadly it's not enough to ever think of buying a second packet on the back of.

Sadly Mars planets seem to be a complete waste of time, it's too easy to predict which is in what (unlike the similar Revels) none of them catch your attention and make you want to savour them and in fact it's just lousy. Quite what the "crunchy" ones have got to do with Mars bars is beyond me, the soft ones are alright but still seem rather like they we're put in only to keep with the idea "this might be the parts of a real Mars bar". I'm feeling glad I stayed away when they were released or I'd be in constant arguments (much like I am now about the dreadful Wispa Golds). If you want balls of chocolate theirs better alternatives, Malteasers and Revels especially want a word with you, though M&M, Mintstrels, Poppet's and even Munchies (which aren't "balls") deserve to be higher up the line than this poor showing from Mars.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Not very keen on these at all

Last weekend I was fancying something sweet but couldn't really decide what so Dave popped down to our local Asda and came back with a pack of Maltesers and a pack of Mars Planets.

It isn't often we have chocolates these days as we are both trying to eat more healthily but you know how it is when you really fancy something nice?

In Asda a packet containing 150g of Planets currently costs £1.73 and there is an offer on the Mars bags meaning that you can buy two for £3. The offer covers Maltesers, Minstrels, M & Ms and Revels.

The bag of Planets is black with the red Mars logo and Planets written on the front. There is a picture of three various flavours inside, each cut in half to show the centre together with the words 'mix it up'. The three sweets are labelled soft, crispy and chewy.

As with most of these packets there is a tear off strip at the top which can be used to reseal the packet so that, if all the chocolate isn't eaten at one sitting, the remaining contents can be kept fresh.

If you are one of those strange people who can leave some for another day the idea is that you tear off the top of the pack and then, after eating some of the contents, you can fold over the top of the pack and then stick it to form a seal and keep the remaining contents fresh.

Looking at the back of the packet I found that the three centres were made of 'chewy caramel, soft nougat and light crispy chocolate balls'. The idea is that you can eat them individually or mix them up in your mouth to create the taste of a Mars Bar.

I am not a great fan of standard sized Mars Bars as I find them too sickly although I have been known to enjoy an occasional miniature bar so I thought that I would enjoy these chocolates, but to be honest I was a bit disappointed.

Looking at the chocolates they all looked the same so mixing them up wasn't an option as there was no way of telling if you were putting three different ones in your mouth or three of the same flavour.

I am not really one to judge these chocolates as I would much rather have Cadburys chocolate than Mars chocolate any day but I found these sweets boring, ordinary and quite sickly so Dave ate most of them.

I have checked the back of the packet for the full nutritional information and was interested to find that not only is it given per 100g but also per 37g which would be the weight of a standard bag. Is it just me or is that an odd thing to find on a 150g bag?

So there you are, eat them as an occasional treat if they are your sort of thing and make sure that they do form part of a generally sensible diet and there won't be any serious repercussions apart from the general enjoyment of the chocolates - as for me I won't be trying these again. They are OK but just not my cup of tea.

Incidentally Dave has gone back to work in Scotland and has been away for a week and won't be back for another week and I still have the unopened packet of Maltesers! I do like Maltesers so I hope you're all impressed!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Nice sweets- Revels without the risk!

Went to the cinema last night and had an urgent need for chocolate type munchies! However, our local cinema has a really rubbish choice and I was left with Mars Planets or ridiculously priced grubby looking pick n mix. So, I settled for Mars Planets to satisfy my cocoa cravings. We got a 150g sharing bag and having nearly passed out at the price of just under £3 went into the screen to tuck in.

The sweets are based on a sort of deconstruction (s a fancy chef might call it) of a Mars Bar. There are three varieies - a caramel in chocolate, nougat in chocolate and a Malteser type biscuit in chocolate. All are very nice indeed!

The caramel is buttery and smooth, if a little more chewy than I would usually like - it's a bit more like toffee. The nougat is exactly like a Mars Bar's nougat being sticky and sweet while the biscuity one is similar to a Malteser but not malty and more crunchy.

The concept reminds me a bit of Revels, but unlike Revels I didn't have to live in fear of hitting a coffee or orange one! You can tell the difference between each one as well so you know what you are getting - the nougat is the largest, the toffee the smallest. I like that because I am really fussy and like them in order. Think that might be a problem just I have though!

Overall, I think these are quite a nice innovation from Mars. They made good cinema snacks as they were quieter than my usual Minstrels! There was plenty to share and we both enjoyed them.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Not for me these :(

When 'Mars Planets' first came out I was excited as I love Mars Bars and Galaxy chocolate so thought they would be great to eat!

It seemed like such a good idea to put three different flavours outs of a Mars bar and wrap them all separately in chocolate covering to make three different flavours - a bit like Revels in a way as you wouldn't know what flavours you were getting in some of the balls...

The black plastic 165g packet price varies a lot, but we got our on a 2 for £2.50 offer on Mars sweetie bags.

This packet is black with the picture of all three flavours on the front - soft, crispy and chewy.

Mars say to mix the flavours up when you eat them but it's more fun to eat them individually to see what you are getting before you shove a mouthful in, lol!

The soft is the nougat centre which is whipped and a light brown in colour; the crispy is just a Malteser with its crispy centre and the toffee is just that a golden brown softish toffee.

If you pop a few in together and then chew it just goes into a modge anyway like a Mars bar does so to me you need to eat them separately to enjoy each flavour and texture.

The chocolate is the lovely rich milk chocolate that Mars always do so I loved it. The nougat one I found boring. It is soft but does nothing for me. There doesn't seem to be much taste to it or much texture so think this one fails in the confectionery choices...

Maltesers will always be loved, for me it is the crunchy biscuit-like texture than you can either bite on or let melt in the mouth - awesome!

The toffee again I think is pretty boring, it tastes nice enough and has a nice caramel flavour on it's own but it's lost with the others...

For me I did not enjoy these as much as I would a bag of Minstrels or Maltesers, I wouldn't waste my money on them, and even the excitement of not knowing what flavour you are going to get or combination got boring after two minutes.

Not for me, only two stars for a bland idea Mars :(

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

An Average Snack

I was sitting down watching Road Wars last night and felt the need for a chocolate fix and popped out to my local Tesco. I don't know what 'Planet' (sorry for the pun) I've been on over the last couple of years but yesterday was the first time I tried Mars Planets. The packet is slightly different to the one shown here as it says Mars Planets on the front Soft, Crispy and Chew - Mix it up!! The Mars range was on offer at 3 for £1.00, so as you may guess, there are other reviews to come!!

Without counting them I would guess there are about 20 balls in the 37g pack that I bought comprising of a mixture of Soft, Crispy and Chewy chocolate covered centres. The largest one has like a centre like the base of a Mars Bar. The other centre is very crispy and finally the chewy centre is made of caramel (not my favourite as I've said in other reviews).

So what do I make of them. Well not a lot really. They were okay. However they were not very filling and they would never have done as something to fill a hunger gap. They were basically a snack I could give or take. As they have been going for a couple of years now, I guess others must like them though. I would say the nicest of the 3 was the one that tasted like a Mars Bar - so I found myself asking the question why not just buy a Mars Bar, to fill me up? And my answer was.....well I probably would in future!!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

very tasty

The packaging of Planets make it obvious that these are a spin off from the Mars bar and offer the same kind of taste, just in a different form!

The packet contains a (pretty much equal) mix of 3 different types of round little chocolates which include:

Soft: filled with a lovely soft nougat just like you find in a Mars barCrispy: a bit like a malteser only more crunchyChewy: very chewy caramel

The soft is definitely my favourite and the crispy ones probably my least favourite just because they are a bit boring but I think the 3 work well together and I enjoy the fact that you don't know which one you are going to get each time until you bite into it.

They owe a lot to Revels as they follow the same idea of a mixed bag but I much prefer the 3 flavours in Mars Planets. They offer less variety than Revels but this also means that you are probably more likely to like all the flavours.

You can buy Mars Planets in a 36 gram bag for about 40-45p (or 3 bags for £1 during promotions) and there are also larger 150g share bags available for about £1.75 (or 2 bags for £3 during promotions)

There are fewer calories (178) in Planets than in most chocolate bars and if you fancy a bag of chocolate sweets these offer an alternative to the likes of maltesers and m and ms.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Revels should sue!

Mars Planets are a rather nice treat, but they lose a fair few points for being very, very similar to Revels. For the most part, it wouldn't surprise me if Mars just bought Revels in bulk at extremely low prices, and tipped the contents into a Mars Planets bag! The only discerning feature is that the coffee and orange flavours, which are frequently maligned (although I do rather like them myself), are nowhere to be found - instead, there are just three base types of sweet.

The first sweet is a soft ball, much like a Malteser, except it doesn't crunch and is instead filled with the soft nougat of a Mars bar. The second sweet is the crispy and crunchy one, which better resembles a Malteser, although doesn't quite seem to fizz and melt in your mouth as much. The third are essentially like toffee revels - they're extremely soft and chewy, making them something of an exercise for the 'ol chompers!

Mars Planets are versatile enough to either eat by yourself or share with a friend - the packets are 37g each usually, but if you're feeling piggish, you can also buy the huge 150g bags. Curiously, the smaller packets of Mars Planets contain little over half the calories that an actual Mars bar would, which is a pleasant surprise, considering how great (and therefore unhealthy) they taste. Generally you can buy the baby packets for no more than 45p.

I'll always buy Revels over Mars Planets simply because there's more sweets to choose from, and aside from the ball with the Mars bar filling, there's very little to distinguish this from Revels. It seems like something of a rather pallid imitation.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

DELICIOUS AND YUMMY.....DO IT!! :-D

My other half often comes in with a bar of chocolate or packet of sweets hidden in his work bag for me. The choice of sweets recently on offer was the 'Mars Planets', which I had spotted several times in my local grocery store but had not yet tried them.

Any regular readers of my reviews will be well aware by now that I am a HUGE chocoholic and I was clearly showing signs of something akin to desperation when I snatched said packet of sweeties from my other half's outstretched hand, keen to see what the new(ish) product from Mars had to offer...

The packaging is quite modern looking, and my first impression of the product was that it was one of quite high quality. The front of the bag clearly shows that there are three types of sweet in the bag. These are: soft, crispy and chewy. I had not tried the Planets before as I said, but I knew already roughly what they were, courtesy of reading reviews about them on Dooyoo! That said though, if I had any doubts at all before I had tasted them, the packaging would have certainly put me right as it is very clear what these sweets are from the little pictures on the front of the bag.

I bit into the first little round chocolate and was delighted to discover the most delicious and chewy toffee/caramel centre. I did not find that the caramel was too sickly or too sweet, and I was pleased that it wasn't too hard in consistency, as I find that some other similar sweeties can be, for my own personal tastes. I was more than happy with everything about the caramel chocolate and was keen to try an alternative one.

After sampling a few more sweets picked at random, and discovering that each and every one of them was caramel, I experienced a brief moment of panic where I wondered if my bag of planets was perhaps faulty, in that it contained only one of the three sweet 'centres' instead of all three!

This was of course not the case at all and when I bit into my next chocolate I was surprised at the amount of crunch that came from the texture. This meant of course that I had stumbled across a 'crispy' centred chocolate. Hurrah! All panic now gone, I could munch my chocolate quite contently.

What I found was that the centre was not so much 'airy' like a Malteser, which is exactly what I had suspected. I thought instead that the centre of the 'crispy' chocolates was more like honeycomb, both in appearance and texture. I certainly found it to be very pleasant and happily carried on with my exploration...

The third type of chocolate centre is of course 'soft' and I found the centres to be exactly like the 'nougat' type centre of a Mars Bar. I do find that Mars Bars can be quite sickly and was happy to note that the nougat in these little balls of chocolate didn't appear to be quite as over-powering.

I would say that I would definitely buy these sweets again and I thoroughly enjoyed each of the centres, although I think that the nougat was my favourite! There were almost equal quantities of each centre, contrary to what I had originally thought, which offered a nice balance to the chocolates.

The nutritional information on the back of the packaging informs me that the Mars Planets are suitable for vegetarians. I am also informed that each 37g bag of these chocolates will provide me with 179 calories and 8.3g of fat... *cough*...

Anyway, regardless of the above information, I would recommend these quite highly, particularly if you are a fan of Mars bars. I will award them five stars - a top class product as far as I am concerned!